HUMAN RIGHTS

NEW YORK | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – The Ethiopian government has given itself sweeping new powers – from restrictions on freedom of assembly and free expression to the deployment of combat-ready troops in civilian centers. The newly imposed state of emergency is expected to last six months.

The harsh new limits on democratic expression – strongly criticised by the U.S. and the European Union – may have blindsided those in the international community who were expecting an opening for reforms with the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

VIENNA (IDN) – The United Nations has taken an important step towards preventing incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes. More than 150 religious leaders from around the world, member states and UN officials, gathered in Vienna to discuss the implementation of the Plan of Action launched by Secretary-General António Guterres in July 2017 at a meeting of the world body's Headquarters in New York.

Guterres said: "All religions teach respect for life and recognize human beings as fundamentally equal. These principles summon us to show respect for all human beings, even those with whom we might profoundly disagree or whose cultures might seem alien."

GENEVA | TEL AVIV (IDN) – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is negotiating with Israel to resettle a portion of African asylum seekers in third countries deemed by the UN to be "safe," perhaps including Western countries, in exchange for some of the refugees to be given permanent residency in Israel, according to The Times of Israel.

The aim is to halt Israel's plans to deport thousands of asylum seekers to African countries, widely believed to be Rwanda and Uganda. "Such an arrangement could be realized, though the necessary details need to be worked out," Sharon Harel, the external relations officer at the UNHCR office in Israel, told the newspaper.

Ambassador Idriss Jazairy is the executive director of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue and the former head of a UN specialised agency, IFAD. This article first appeared* in EURACTIV on February 5, 2018 and is being re-published with their permission.

GENEVA (IDN) – More people than ever are on the move under the centrifugal impulse of globalisation. Fifteen percent of the world’s population or one billion of the Earth’s seven billion people are considered as people on the move. Host developing countries or societies bear the brunt of those that flee from their homes.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Under a so-called “infiltrator’s law”, more than 1,000 African asylum seekers in Israel face deportation from Israeli detention centres starting in March.

Speaking at a recent Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the harsh enforcement policy. “We are not acting against refugees,” he said. “We are acting against illegal migrants who come here not as refugees but for work needs. Israel will continue to offer asylum for genuine refugees and will remove illegal migrants from its midst.”

NEW YORK | TOKYO (IDN-INPS) – Eminent Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), has welcomed the July 2017 adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as a turning point in the global history of efforts to achieve peace and disarmament, emphasizing that while nuclear weapons exist, a world of peace and human rights will remain elusive.

According to a press release highlighting major aspects of his proposal issued in Japanese on January 26, Ikeda outlines strategies for gaining support for the Treaty from the nuclear-weapon states and nuclear-dependent states, and calls on Japan to declare its readiness to consider becoming party to the TPNW: "Having experienced the reality of nuclear weapons, Japan cannot turn away from its moral responsibility."

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Is democracy in decline? If you talk about the quality of democracy the answer is clearly yes. The US, the world’s first and most important democracy – although at the beginning a limited democracy for white men only – is in trouble.

President Donald Trump has brought old problems to the surface – the money that buys candidates and policies, gerrymandering, an increasingly polarised electorate and a deadlocked Congress. He has added his own negatives – misusing his power to threaten his opponent, Hilary Clinton, with jail, waging a war against the media and attempting to make it clear that he has the sole power to use nuclear weapons and that he will use them against North Korea, even if North Korea has not used its.

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – In response to the protracted migrant and refugee crisis that has affected primarily Europe and the MENA region, a coalition of international organizations took the initiative to adopt the 2017 Geneva Declaration entitled “Mobility and human solidarity, a challenge and an opportunity for Europe and the MENA region” pledging increased cooperation between decision-makers to address the adverse impact of the crisis.

The Geneva Declaration is the fruit of a panel debate entitled “Migration and human solidarity, a challenge and an opportunity for Europe and the MENA region” that was organized by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue – a think-tank holding special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council - on 14 December 2017 at the United Nations Office at Geneva.

GENEVA (IDN) – Despite being elected as member of the Human Rights Council at the end of 2016, Saudi Arabia has “continued its practice of silencing, arbitrarily arresting, detaining and persecuting human rights defenders and critics,” according to a group of top United Nations human rights experts.

“We are also seeking the Government’s clarification about how these measures are compatible with Saudi Arabia’s obligations under international human rights law, as well as with the voluntary pledges and commitments it made when seeking to join the Human Rights Council,” the group of experts said.

AMSTERDAM | BRUSSELS (IDN) – Hundreds of Eritreans have been taking to the streets in various cities and refugee camps all over the world against the Eritrean regime to express solidarity with the unusual protests that took place in Asmara, the country's capital, on October 31. The latest in the protest series was on December 22, 2017 in Brussels next to the European Commission headquarters.

Among the protesters' demand is the closure of the Eritrean embassy in Brussels, which is responsible for the Netherlands, because people who have fled the country must fear the ‘long arm' of the regime and a culture of fear perpetrated by Asmara, according to a Dutch research report. This has prompted a debate in the Netherlands about the Eritrean regime's repressive activities in the country.